Shots fired in police stop; no injuries

Tuesday

Oct 15, 2013 at 2:05 PMOct 15, 2013 at 2:05 PM

By Sheila Davissheila.davis@examiner.net

Independence police fired shots at a vehicle Tuesday morning after the driver rammed a police car during a traffic stop. The incident then became a pursuit and search for one of the occupants of the vehicle.

Independence Police spokesman Tom Gentry said all four occupants of the vehicle were eventually taken into custody and no one was injured. Some Independence schools went into lockdown during the search for a man who fled the vehicle.

Gentry said it started at 5:07 a.m. when an officer tried to stop the vehicle at 24th Street and Northern Boulevard. The driver failed to stop there, but did stop a few blocks on, in the intersection at Northern and Ayers Street.

As the officer approached the driver’s window the vehicle backed up, and Gentry said it appeared the driver was trying to hit the officer. Instead it hit the police car, causing some front end damage. The officer fired several shots at the vehicle, but no one was hit, Gentry said.

A pursuit then went east until the suspects’ vehicle turned down a dead-end driveway. One of the occupants jumped out and ran; the officer held the other three until other officers arrived.

Police notified the Independence School District about the search for the suspect, and schools in that area of town were put on lockdown.

A citizen called police to say that she had seen the suspect and directed police to a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, where he was found in the bathroom. He was arrested without incident at 9:39 a.m.

Gentry said the suspects were three white males and a white woman, all apparently in their 20s.